Display-rack.



A. E. MILLER.

DISPLAY RACK.

APPHCATION FILED JAN. 3. I916.

Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

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ale.

ANDREW? E. lviILLER, OF BALTII-JIGRE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNGR TO SOLOM'ON HIMMEL, 01*

BALTIMORE, IiIARYLAND.

DISPLAY-RACK.

Application filed January 3, 1916.

T aZZ 20 7mm it may concern Be it known that 1, ANDREW E. Minnnn, a subject of the Kin of Great Britain, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Mary:

land, have invented new and useful Improvements in Display-Racks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved display rack of that type in which the garment supporting member is inclosed within a casing, and mounted to move from a position within the casing to a point adjacent the front thereof. In display racks of this type the inclosing casing is usually con structed of glass, and the glass panels in the back of the case are apt to be broken through carelessness of the operator in moving the rack back into the case before the same is properly alined with respect to the case.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide means by which the rack may be moved back and forth with respect to the case, and in such manner as to overcome the tendency of the operator to turn the rack as it is being moved toward the back of the case; also to overcome the ten dency to rotate the rack when the same is being moved to its forward position.

A further object is to provide manually operated means by which the rack may be locked in its forward position so as to pre rent accidental return thereof while the salesman is displaying the goods to a customer.

A. further object is to provide means for preventing unlocking movement except when the rack is in its forward position.

A further object is to providemeans for preventingoperation of the locking means when the rack has been rotated from a predetermined position.

The invention will be hereinafter fully set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings :-Figure 1 is a transverse sectional View illustrating my invention, the inclosing case being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a front view, parts being shown in section.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates an inclosing case of any suitable or preferred construction, the same being provided with a horizontal channel 11 in its bottom wall. To the sides of said channel Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 36, 1917.

Serial No. 69,854.

are secured tracks or guides 12 between which is mounted a carriage 13, preferably provided with complemental guides l t, suitable antifriction balls 15 being preferably located. between the complemental guides. By this means the friction occasioned by the movement of the carriage may be greatly reduced.

lhe carriage 13 is provided with a bear ing it in which is rotatably mounted a shaft 17, the upper end of which supports arms 18 to which are secured the rods 19 upon which the garments are supported, the arms 18 being connected to the shaft 17 through the medium of a suitable cross head 29.

l\lounted in suitable bearings 21 secured to the rods 19, in any preferred manner, is a crank shaft 22 having a crank portion 23, and operating handles 24 extending downwardly in the front and rear respectively, of the rods 19. Endwise movement of the shaft 22 is prevented by suitable collars 25. An operating rod 26, is connected at one end with the crank member 23, the other end of said rod being attached to a ring 27 slidably mounted upon a collar 28, attached to shaft 17 in any suitable manner. The periphery of the ring 27 engages a recess in he locking or movable abutment member 29, arranged to reciprocate within a suitable guide with which the carriage 18 is pro vided. If desired. the rod 26 may be passed through the cross head 20.

Secured to the bottom of. the channel. 11 is an abutment shown as comprising a strip 30 e:-;tcnding longitudinally of said channel. The upper end of the locking or abutment member 29 is provided with a double beveled portion 31 complen'iental to correspond ingly shaped recesses 31 in the underside of the collar 28.

In pra -tice, the rack is normally retained within the case, as illustrated in Fig. 1. l v hen in this position. the abutment strip 30 is beneath the con'iplemental abutment or loclring member 29, and as a consequence, downward movement of said locking member is prevented, thereby serving to lock the shaft 17 against rotation, by reason of the engagement of the portion 31 with the recess in collar 28. When a salesman desires to display the goods supported by the rack member, he grasps the handle 2% nearest to the front of the case,vand draws the rack and carriage to the extreme forward position.

As the carriage travels forward or backward, the abutment strip 30 prevents any movement of locking member 29 sufiicient to unlock the rack to rotation. When the carriage reaches its extreme forward position, however, the latch member is located beyond the forward end of strip 80 and may accordingly be reciprocated. By then moving the handle 24 laterally, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the crank shaft 22 is rocked so as to depress the crank portion 23, thereby lowering the locking member 29 so that its end will drop below the forward end of the abutment member 30. The rack I may then be rotated to display the goods as may be desired, rearward movement of the carriage being prevented. by reason of the engagement between the locking member 29 and the end of the abutment member 30. Rotation of the rack, when in forward posi tion, effects a corresponding rotation of col lar 28, carrying the notch thereof out of alinement with the locking member 29. As a consequence the carriage cannot be moved rearwardly until the notched portion of the collar is again in alinement with the looking member, for the reason that the edge of the collar will prevent upward movement of the locking member until the notch reaches the position to provide the necessary clear ance. The notched portion of the collar 28 is so related with the arms 19 of the rack that said notched portion is in alinement with the locking member 29 when the rods 19 are parallel with the front of the case. WVhen it is desired to return the rack to its rearward position, the operator returns the handle 24 to its normal position, thereby raising the locking member 29,

whereupon the rack may be moved back to its rearmost position. It will be observed that the handles 24: are preferably located near the middle of the rack so that as the caia'iage is moved back and forth, the pulling force will not tend to rotate the rack, thereby reducing tendency to injure the parts by the application of rotating strains when the locking member 29 is engaged with the collar 28. It will be noted that the ring 27 is loosely mounted upon the collar 28, so as to permit rotation of the ring with the shaft 17, so that the ring 27 will at all times be in engagement with the locking member 29. At the same time the rack is locked in its forward position by a very slight lateral movement of the handle 24;, a movement which the salesman will al-' most involuntarily impart. It will be seen therefore, that by the arrangement above described the operator is unconsciously forced to keep the rack alined with respect to the 7 case as he moves it back and forth, thereby avoiding any tendency to break the glass through carelessness. This is of particular advantage in view of the fact that the socalled automatic locking display racks now on the market are frequently injured by reason of the operator endeavoring to rotate the rack before it reaches its forward position. By the structure herein described the operator knows that the rack will not be unlocked except by a manual operation, and the manual operation will actually not take place until the rack has been moved to its forward position.

Having thus explained the nature of my invention, and described an operative manner of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made, or all of the modes of its use, what I claim is 1. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate back and forth within said case, a stationary abutment, a locking member carried by the rack and cooperating with said abutment to prevent accidental rearward movement of the rack, and manually controlled means adapted to operate independently of the rotative movement of the rack for moving said locking member.

2. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate back and forth within said case,

a stationary abutment, a handle carried by the rack and by means of which said rack may be reciprocated, and means connected with said handle and cooperating with said abutment to prevent rearward movement of the rack when the same is in its forwarl position, said means being adapted to operate independently of the rotative movement of the rack.

3. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate back and forth within said case, a stati nary abutment, a locking member carried by the rack and coiiperating with said abutment to prevent accidental rearward movement of the rack, and means adapted to operate independentlv of the reciproeable movement of the rack for moving,

said locking member.

4-. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate within said case, a crank shaft supported by said rack, and a locking member adapted to operate independently of the rotative movement of the rack to prevent reciprocation of said rack, said locking member being operatively connected with said crank shaft. 1

5. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate within said case, a crank shaft attached to said rack and. provided with depending handle-ends, and a locking member adapted to operate independently of the rotative movement of the rack to prevent reciprocation of said rack, said locking memher being operatively connected with said crank shaft.

6. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable shaft mounted to reciprocate within said case, a cross head secured to said shaft, garment supporting rods supported by said cross head, a crank shatt supported by said rods, and a locking member adapted to operate independently of the rotative movement of the rack to prevent reciprocation of said rack, said locking mem her being operatively connected with said crank shaft.

7. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate within said case, a ring mounted to rotate with said rack, a locking member connected with said ring and adapted to operate independently of the rotative movement of the rack to prevent reciprocation of said rack, and means for reciprocating the said ring to move said locking member.

8. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate within said case, a ring mounted to rotate with said rack, a locking member connected with said ring and adapted to op crate independently of the rotative movement of the rack to prevent reciprocation of said rack, a crank shaft supported by said rack, and means for connecting said ring with said crank shaft.

9. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate back and forth within said case, a locking member adapted to operate independently of the rotative movement of the rack to prevent rotation of said rack, manually operated means rotatable with said rack for moving said locking member, and means for preventing unlocking movement of said locking member except when the rack is at one extremity of its reciprocation.

10. An improvement in display racks comprising a also, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate back id forth within said case, a locking member itor preventing rotation of said rack, means rotatable with said rack and mounted to move independently of the rotative movement of the rack for moving said locking member, and an abutment strip :lor preventing unlocking movement of said locking member, said strip being of a length less than the length ot reciprocation of said rack.

11. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate back and forth within said case, a notched collar attached. to and rotatable with said rack, a locking member adapted to operate independently of the rotative movement of the rack and having an angular portion to engage the notched portion of said collar, manual means rotatable with the rack for operating said locking member, and

means for preventing unlocking movement of said locking member except when the rack is at one extremity of its reciprocation.

12. An improvement in display racks, comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate back and forth within said case, a stationary abutment, means carried by the rack and cooperating with the abutment to prevent accidental rearward movement of the rack when the same is in its forward position, said means including operating means rotatable with the rack and mounted to move independently of the rotative movement of the rack, and means for preventing operation of said movement-preventing means when the rack has been rotated from a predetermined position.

13. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate back and forth within said case, a locking member carried by said rack, manually operated means rotatable with said rack and mounted to move independently of the rotative movement of the rack for moving said locking member, means cooperating with said locking member for preventing reciprocation of the rack When the latter is at one extremity of its reciprocation, and means for preventing movement of said locking member when the rack has been rotated from a predetermined position.

14. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate within said case, an abutment member carried by the rack, an abutment member carried by the case, one of said abutment members having means cooperating with the rack to prevent rotation of the latter, and means adapted to operate independently of the rotative movement of the rack for effecting relative movement of said abutment members.

15. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate within said case, an abutment member carried by the rack, an abutment member carried by the case, one of said abutment members having means cooperating with the rack to prevent reciprocable movement of the rack when it is at one extremity of its reciprocation, and means adapted to operate independently of the reciprocation of the rack for eiiecting relative movement of said abutment members.

16. An improvement in display racks comprising a case. a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate within said case, an abutment member carried by the rack, an abutment member carried by the case, one of said abutment members having means cooperating with the rack to prevent rotation of the latter, said abutment member being also provided with means for preventing reciprocable movement of the rack when at one extremity of its reciprocation, and means adapted to operate independently of the re ciprocatio-n and rotation of the rack for effeeting relative movement of said abutment members.

17. An improvement in display racks comprising a case, a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate back and forth within said case, a collar attached to and rotatable with the rack, a locking member having a portion to engage said collar, means adapted to operate independently of the rotative movement of the rack to prevent operating said locking member, said means including means for preventing unlocking movement of the locking member except when the rack is at one extremity of its reciprocation.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREW E. MILLER.

Witnesses:

J. R. EADEs, H. D. HINTERNEsoH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D G. 

